UCLG attends the Fifth Africa Regional Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction

 Fifth Africa Regional Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction

Abuja (Nigeria) hosted on 13-16 May 2014 the 5th Africa Regional Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction (AfRP5). UCLG participated in the meeting that brought together diverse stakeholders, from national and local governments, regional intergovernmental organizations, bilateral and multilateral donors, UN and international agencies, parliamentarians, civil society organizations, the private sector, and the media, to continue discussions towards an African position on a post-2015 framework for disaster risk reduction (DRR).

The empowerment of local governments is necessary to effectively tackle climate change and disaster risk reduction, and UCLG’s longstanding position was highlighted during the AfRP5 in Abuja with the intervention of Fatimetou Mint Abdel Malic, President of the African Elected Women Network (REFELA). During her intervention, the President of REFELA highlighted the central role and primary responsibility of local and regional authorities in the implementation of strategies and activities to reduce disaster risk in our territories. Fatimetou expressed the commitment of local and regional authorities to pay attention and importance to increased institutional risk governance in municipalities and to integrate disaster risk reduction in municipal policy and planning.

UCLG chaired a session organized by UN Habitat on Urban Resilience and Recovery with the participation of local governments from Comoros, Mozambique, Sénégal, Nigeria and Kenya as well as representatives from UN Habitat, GFDRR (WB) and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. The session ended with a set of recommendations on the promotion of decentralization, risk mapping and participatory physical planning, building human and technical capacities of local governments, etc.

UCLG, as adopted with the Rabat Declaration at the IV Congress of United Cities and Local Governments, calls for inclusive and resilience cities that can significantly contribute to the Post 2015 Agenda and towards Habitat III.

Following conclusions of the Climate Change 2014 report: Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability, contribution of Working Group II to the Fifth Assessment of the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC); UCLG highlighted the role of local governments in “scaling up adaptation of communities, households, and civil society, and in managing risk information and financing”.

The meeting was co-organized by the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR), African Union Commission, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the Government of Nigeria, this occasion was the latest in a series of multi-stakeholder consultations leading up to the Third World Conference for Disaster Risk Reduction to be held in Japan in 2015, which will conclude discussions on a new global framework to replace the Hyogo Framework for Action that was adopted in 2005.

AfRP5 was organized around three core themes that have emerged during the continental consultations: regional risk factors; integration of DRR and climate change adaptation for resilience; and investment in DRR.

Participants adopted the summary statement called “Africa’s Contribution to the Post-2015 Framework For Disaster Risk Reduction”.

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UCLG attends the Fifth Africa Regional Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction